5 Tricks to Kick Your Worst Heartburn Habits!
Acid reflux disease or heartburn happens when contents from your stomach move up into your esophagus. At the entrance to your stomach is a valve, which is a ring of muscles called the lower esophageal sphincter. Normally, it closes as soon as food passes through it. If it doesn’t close all the way or if it opens too often, acid produced by your stomach can move up into your esophagus. This can cause symptoms such as a burning chest discomfort called heartburn.
One of the most common symptoms of acid reflux disease is heartburn which is a burning pain or discomfort that moves from your stomach to your abdomen or chest, or even up into your throat. You can also experience frequent regurgitations of food or liquids into the mouth which leaves a very sour taste on the tongue. Other symptoms include hiccups that don’t let up, nausea, weight loss for no known reason, wheezing, dry cough, hoarseness, or chronic sore throat.
The common factors that lead to acid reflux disease or heartburn is usually something to do with bad habits, such as:
- Eating large meals or lying down right after a meal, these habits lead to retention of food in your stomach for longer periods of time and causes the stomach acid to build and regurgitate into your esophagus.
- Eating certain foods, such as spicy or fatty foods, chocolate, tomato, garlic, onions and citrus fruits.
- Drinking certain beverages, such as alcohol, carbonated drinks, coffee, or tea.
Smoking is also known as one of the most common causes of hypersecretion of acid in the stomach.
Although there are plenty of prescription medicines available in the market to treat acid reflux disease, there are things you can try like diet and lifestyle modifications. While diet does not always cause acid reflux disease, it can still aggravate or increase the reflux of acid in the stomach. Certain foods compromise the lower esophageal sphincter’s ability to prevent reflux and are best avoided.
Here are some tips to prevent heartburn:
- Start your day by drinking 2 glasses of warm water first thing in the morning before you eat anything.
- Don’t overeat, know when to stop eating.
- Don’t go to bed with a full stomach.
- Avoid tight-fitting clothing. Clothes that fit tightly around your waist put pressure on your abdomen and the lower esophageal sphincter.
- Lastly, stop smoking and drinking alcohol!
Besides lifestyle change, heartburn can also be prevented by dietary change. But sometimes it’s too late to change your diet. You may already be suffering from a heartburn and now you need something to reduce the symptoms. Certain types of food and drink are very helpful to reduce the symptoms of acid reflux disease. Here are some of them:
- Ginger and honey tea. Boil ginger and add honey. This homegrown remedy will help your stomach relax. Do not add lemon!
- Banana, melons and papaya are some fruits that can ease your heartburn. Also try other fruits that are sweet and watery.
- Eat more green vegetables, such as cucumber, kale, and broccoli. Beside easing your heartburn, they also improve your digestion.
- Oatmeal and yogurt are some foods that can reduce the pain of acid reflux disease. You can eat oatmeal with an empty stomach, or eat yogurt after a meal.
- Make aloe vera juice. This has the same effect of eating watery fruits, except in juice form.
To have a healthy stomach, or to reduce the likelihood of getting a heartburn, start by changing your lifestyle. Our lives depend on what we eat, and a healthy stomach is paramount in keeping ourselves alive. If the symptoms are severe such that it hinders your daily activities, seek professional help immediately!